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The votes of British Indians must not be taken for granted by the major parties as the electorate is getting increasingly drawn towards the extremes on the right and left of the political divide, the British Indian Census 2025' reveals this week. The research by the 1928 Institute think tank, released in a House of Commons committee room in London on Tuesday, found that Indian diaspora support for the anti-immigration Reform UK tripled to match a similar rise in young voters backing the climate action focussed Green Party. While support for the governing Labour Party is still higher among British Indians than the national average, at 35 per cent compared to 22 per cent within the wider population, there has been a 13 per cent decline in this support. Meanwhile, the Opposition Conservatives have lost ground with a 12 per cent fall since 2019 and the Liberal Democrats registered no change at around 9 per cent support within the community. Political support among British Indians is ..
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that her governance model does not allow discrimination and that she prioritises the welfare of all sections of society. Addressing a gathering at the Kellogg College in the University of Oxford, she stressed the importance of inclusive development and stated that division in society is counterproductive. "If I die, before my death, I want to see unity. Unity is our strength, and division leads to our fall. This was Swami Vivekananda's belief. Keeping unity is a difficult task, but dividing people takes only a moment. Do you think the world can sustain such divisive ideology?" she asked "When I am in the chair, I cannot divide society. I have to look after the weaker sections and the poor. We have to work hard for them. At the same time, we must work for all religions, castes, and creeds together, move forward with them, and help them," she said. Banerjee, who leads the Trinamool Congress, was speaking on 'Social Developm
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday said it is a matter of pride that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is visiting Oxford University to deliver a lecture. He also said that whenever good things happen to the state, they make him happy. "If anything good happens to Bengal, it makes us happy. Also we are proud that the CM is going to Oxford," Bose told reporters on the sidelines of a CII meet here. It is a matter of pride that the CM (who is) from the land of Rabindranath Tagore has been invited there, he said. Banerjee's lecture at Oxford University is slated for March 27. During her stay, she will also meet industrialists on March 25 to seek investments for the state. She is expected to return between March 28 and 29. As part of her itinerary in the UK, Banerjee will attend a programme at the Indian High Commission on March 24, a government-to-government (G2G) programme on March 26, and another G2G event at Oxford on March 27. About the appointment of a permanent vice .
The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University, London, which purchased the Thirumangai Alwar bronze idol in 1967, has agreed to return the idol to Tamil Nadu after the state Idol Wing CID submitted evidence of the idol's trafficking from an ancient temple in Thanjavur district, the police said on Friday. In its recent communication to the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID police, the Oxford University has expressed its "commitment to repatriate" the idol said to be worth crores of rupees back to India, due to the wing's efforts, a release here said. "They have also promised to cover all costs associated with transferring the idol from London to India, ensuring that it can be returned to the temple for worship. This marks a significant step in the efforts to return stolen idols to their rightful places of origin," the release said. Efforts were on to bring this idol to Tamil Nadu within a month's time. Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal, appreciated the exceptional work done by the Idol Wi
Former UK Conservative Party leader William Hague has been elected chancellor of Oxford University, one of the most prestigious positions in British academia, the university said Wednesday. Hague was elected in an online vote by staff and alumni of the 800-year-old university. He will replace Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, who has held the post since 2003. Hague beat contenders including former Labour Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and Elish Angiolini, the former top law officer in Scotland. The university said Hague will be inaugurated early next year and will serve a 10-year term. The chancellor is the university's titular head and presides over key ceremonies, as well as overseeing the election of the vice-chancellor, the university's day-to-day leader. Hague is an Oxford graduate who began his political career at the Oxford University Conservative Association. Elected Conservative leader at the age of 36 after the party lost power to Labour in 1997, he
The University of Oxford on Wednesday announced the 38 finalists in the race to be elected the new Chancellor of the University of Oxford, which includes Indian-origin candidates but excludes former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan. Ankur Shiv Bhandari, the first Indian-origin Mayor of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire; Nirpal Singh Paul Bhangal, a Professor of International Entrepreneurship; and Pratik Tarvadi, a medical professional, will go head-to-head with academics, politicians, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. Former Conservative Party leader Lord William Hague and former Labour politician Lord Peter Mandelson are among the senior politicians selected, with Khan deemed to have been disqualified following the selection process. Applications were considered by the Chancellor's Election Committee solely on the four exclusion criteria set out in the university's regulations. All applicants have been notified whether their submissions have been successful, a university statement
The American economy expanded at a 1.4 per cent annual pace from January through March, the slowest quarterly growth since spring 2022, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade from its previous estimate. Consumer spending grew just 1.5 per cent, down from an initial estimate of 2 per cent in a sign that high interest rates may be taking a toll on the economy. The Commerce Department had previously estimated that the gross domestic product the economy's total output of goods and services advanced at a 1.3 per cent rate last quarter. The first quarter's GDP growth marked a sharp pullback from a strong 3.4 per cent pace during the final three months of 2023. Still, Thursday's report showed that the January-March slowdown was caused mainly by two factors a surge in imports and a drop in business inventories that can bounce around from quarter to quarter and don't necessarily reflect the underlying health of the economy. Imports shaved 0.82 percentage point off first-quarter
The Oxford University has terminated its deal with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) after students experienced technical glitches while taking online admission test for the institution. "Following the technical problems experienced by some candidates during the delivery of this year's online admissions tests by a new provider, TCS will not be involved in the delivery of Oxford admissions tests going forward," a spokesperson for the university said. Thousands of students from across the world appear for test to get admitted to Oxford every year. The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes through 30 colleges across the UK. Prominent Indians who studied at Oxford include former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. In April 2023, the UK-based institution selected TCS iON, the learning and assessments-focused unit of TCS, for conducting the admission tests, replacing Cambridge Admissions Assessment Testing. The university attributed complaints by candida
The Mumbai University has said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies to offer a course on temple management. It will be one of the various diploma and certificate-level courses to be offered offline as well as in online mode under this collaboration. The university's Centre for Hindu Studies along with its Sanskrit Department has inked the MoU with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, a press release issued by the university said. The course will focus on holistic study of Hindu philosophy with degree and certificate courses.
'Situationship', 'swiftie', 'beige flag' and 'de-influencing' are among the eight words on the shortlist for Oxford Word of the Year for 2023, officials said on Wednesday. According to officials at the Oxford University Press (OUP), the eight words will be opened up to head-to-head voting by the public with one winner emerging from each of those competitions, narrowing the field down to just four finalists. Experts will then perform one last detailed analysis of the corpus data, taking into account the votes and public commentary on the finalists, and name the definitive word of the year for 2023. The shortlist of eight words has been selected by the language experts at OUP. They have examined the 19-billion-word corpus of spoken and written language data for words or expressions that have seen a spike in usage or that have been recently added to the language (neologisms), officials said. While 'situationship' is a term used for a romantic or sexual relationship that is not consid